Fairhope employee injured in electrical shock incident today

FAIRHOPE, Alabama -- A city of Fairhope Electrical Department employee was injured just before noon today, receiving a serious injury as the result of a shock caused by electrical contact, a Fairhope police spokesman said.

Greg McCoy was working on a power line on South Section Street at Morphy Avenue when the accident occurred at 11:42 a.m., said spokesman Sgt. Craig Sawyer. McCoy was taken to USA Medical Center in Mobile by Life-Flight helicopter. A USAMC spokesman said this afternoon that McCoy was in serious condition in the hospital's burn unit.

McCoy was wearing all required safety equipment at the time, said Scott Sligh, superintendent of the Electrical Department. Circumstances that led to the accident are under investigation.

Sligh said that McCoy was in an elevated aerial lift working on the power line when the electrical contact occurred and credits other electric department employees with saving McCoy.

Department co-workers Benjamin Patterson and Douglas Brown were present at the work site and brought Mr. McCoy down safely, sought medical treatment, and are credited with saving his life, Sligh said.

A power outage occurred as a result of the accident, affecting widespread areas of Fairhope, but service has been restored, Sawyer said.